REPORT LMS Exploratory Task Force, 2010-2011 August 13, 2011 Task Force Members: Lorna Wong (Chair), UW System Administration Barbara Barnet, UW-Platteville Jeff Bohrer, UW-Madison Rovy Branon, UW-Extension Jane Henderson, UW-Stout Peter Mann, UW-Madison Sharon McCarragher, UW-Milwaukee Andy Speth, UW-Green Bay Dan Voeks, UW-Madison Jim Winship, UW-Whitewater Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 3 KEY RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................ 5 LMS Landscape ..................................................................................................................... 7 Faculty Needs Assessment ............................................................................................ 11 Student Needs Assessment ........................................................................................... 15 Emerging Trends .............................................................................................................. 18 Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................... 25 Appendix 1 – Learn@UW Usage .................................................................................. 26 Appendix 2 – LMS Market Share for Number of Students ................................... 27 Appendix 3 – LMS Market Share for All Institutions ............................................ 28 Appendix 4 – Potential and Emerging Market Disruptions ............................... 29 Appendix 5 – UW System Results – Highlights from the ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and IT 2010 ....................................................................... 30 Appendix 6 – “Comparing student and faculty usage and perceptions of Desire2Learn features” .................................................................................................. 34 LMS Exploratory Task Force final report Page 2 Executive Summary Background Desire2Learn (D2L) was adopted as a central Learning Management System (LMS) for University of Wisconsin System in 2003. The software was licensed after a vigorous 12-month RFI/RFP process and replaced two other LMSs hosted by UWS at the time – Blackboard and WebCT. D2L is currently serving all 26 campuses, with a total enrollment of over 150,000 and over 15,000 course sections every semester since fall 2008 [see Appendix 1, pg. 26, for historical view of courses and enrollments]. The Learn@UW Utility, a unit operating within DoIT at UW-Madison, provides hosting, infrastructure, and support of D2L and integration with other enterprise services. User support is provided by Learn@UW centrally and by personnel at the local campuses. The costs for licensing D2L and for the operational services provided by the Learn@UW Utility are funded by the CSRG. The Director of Learning Technology Development at UWSA serves as the liaison between D2L, Inc., Learn@UW Utility and the UWS campuses. D2L has experienced a steady growth in usage within UWS as a supplement to regular face-to-face courses, hybrid/blended courses, and in online courses and programs over the past eight years. The service has evolved from a content delivery focused Course Management System (primarily the posting of syllabus and course files) to a more comprehensive Learning Management System concept where learning is facilitated by online assignment collection, quizzes, grades tracking, and building of online communities via online discussion. While as a general purpose LMS service, D2L cannot cater to the specific need of every individual student or instructor, the faculty satisfaction surveys conducted in 2005, 2007 and 2010 indicate that a majority of faculty are satisfied with both the service and the support received. [A report from the 2010 survey is available online at https://learnuw.wisconsin.edu/survey/]. Students have expressed expectations that D2L will be used as the online portal for their courses. The service management team routinely engages with peer institutions to remain abreast of contemporary trends in LMS and supplementary service offerings. Additionally, a special eLearning Task Force was convened in 2007-2008 to review the current state of eLearning for the University of Wisconsin System. UWS signed an initial 5-year contract with D2L in 2003, followed by a 5-year renewal in 2008. The next contract consideration will be June 2013. DOA has required that a careful study be conducted prior to a multi-year contract renewal. In preparation for next renewal in 2013, the Learn@UW Executive Committee appointed a new group – LMS Exploratory Task Force – in August 2010 to: • Study the status of the current LMS (D2L) at UW campuses from the faculty, student, and academic program perspectives. Assess any current LMS Exploratory Task Force final report Page 3 unmet needs and requirements and identify those needs most effectively addressed via the LMS product. • Scan the current LMS environment and ascertain how D2L’s current offerings and product development roadmap compare to other vendors. • Scan the emerging technology trends and provide recommendations about the needs that should be addressed by the LMS or LMS related strategies to meet the needs of online learning in the next five years. • Make recommendations to the Learn@UW Executive Committee and the UW System CIO on the next steps in the LMS direction. Members of the LMS Task Force The members average 10+ years of experience with LMSs, reaching back to the very earliest days of web-based systems. This collective experience encompasses use of an LMS in teaching, support and management of an enterprise-level service, which includes the transitioning to new systems as the platform matured. Experiences include multiple LMSs, e.g., Web Course In a Box, Prometheus, WebCT, Blackboard, etc., and administration and support for faculty at all levels. Furthermore, campus responsibilities for the members of this group include investigation and research into emerging LMSs and other instructional technologies. This expertise was essential to the development of this study. • Barbara Barnet, UW-Platteville, Faculty (Statistics) • Jeff Bohrer, UW-Madison, Madison Learn@UW Team Lead • Rovy Branon, UW-Extension, Executive Director of eCampus • Jane Henderson, UW-Stout, Director of Learning Technology Services • Peter Mann, Learn@UW Utility Service Manager • Sharon McCarragher, UW-Milwaukee, D2L Site Administrator • Andy Speth, UW-Green Bay, Manager of Learning Technology Center • Dan Voeks, Learn@UW Utility Technical Team Lead • Jim Winship, UW-Whitewater, Faculty (Social Work) • Lorna Wong, UWSA, Director of Learning Technology Development, Chair Executive Sponsors: • Al Hartman, UW-Oshkosh, Chair, Learn@UW Executive Committee, • Ed Meachen, UWSA, Associate Vice President and CIO Four subgroups were formed to address the major areas of study: • Faculty Needs Assessment – Barbara Barnet and Jim Winship, Co-Chair • Student Needs Assessment – Sharon McCarragher, Chair • Emerging Technologies – Jeff Bohrer, Chair • LMS Landscape Scanning – Andy Speth and Dan Voeks, Co-Chair The LMS Exploratory Task Force web site is available at: http://www.uwsa.edu/olit/luwexec/projects/exploratorytask/index.html LMS Exploratory Task Force final report Page 4 KEY RECOMMENDATIONS 1. An RFI should be initiated before June 2013 to assess the landscape and determine whether an RFP is desirable. There are a number of reasons for proceeding cautiously in issuing an RFP. First, the market is projected to be in significant flux over the next several years, and innovative Learning Management Systems (LMS) are beginning to enter the marketplace. The specifications of an RFP, if one is deemed necessary, should reflect those innovations that clearly emerge within the market. Second, at present we are not experiencing any of the compelling reasons for issuing an RFP as recommended by Delta Initiative. Third, there are significant costs in resources and time in changing to a different LMS on the UW campuses, as well as a disruptive impact on the teaching and learning process. Moving to a new LMS should only be done when the benefits to teaching and learning clearly outweigh the implementation costs. 2. In preparation for issuing an RFI, conduct and monitor pilots on campuses. The UW System should provide opportunities/resources/funding for small pilots that extend the capability of the LMS. Findings should be tracked and monitored by the System-wide Learning Technology Development Council (LTDC). 3. An ongoing UWS LMS Task Force should maintain current knowledge of the LMS landscape, track emerging eLearning practices, evaluate the needs of academic programs, and communicate this to any future RFI/RFP committee. 4. UW System should support and fund a periodic survey of UW students to collect data concerning the use of instructional technologies, including LMS. This effort would be comparable to the faculty survey that is conducted biennially. 5. Explore and improve content independence for purpose of easing reuse and any potential future LMS transitions. Promote faculty ownership of data and course materials through backup, archive, export, etc. Additionally, there should be exploration of back-end export capabilities to assist any future transitions to another LMS. LMS Exploratory Task Force final report Page 5 6. UW System should conduct periodic site visits to D2L’s corporate headquarters